Bills, bills, bills

Warning: Punchy email . . .

Yippee! Today was the last day that I needed to get Keva up for school in the dead of night because of Daylight Savings. I've been dragging these days with the early morning alarm clock. I shouldn't complain, though, with Keith working such long hours . . .

Lately, it's been hormones galore. I'm glad to be back among the land of the semi-sane now. For a while, I had this HUGE zit on my chin. I felt like that lady on a travel commercial, "Hi, Aunt Mole." If you watch too much TV, you'll understand the reference . . .

I've also been battling bills ("Bills, bills, bills. We make bill collectors leave you alone!"-- another inane TV commercial) One day this week, I waded through paperwork for four hours straight. Some things can take so much time. We've had so many doctor visits lately and, as a result, a whole pile of medical bills. I'm happy to report that after a few phone calls to the right places, I was able to get rid of two bills. Our insurance company was going to charge us $18 for Kade and Konner's eye checks during their well visits. $18!!!! Come on! The eye test consisted of having each boy stand, covering one eye, and identifying pictures. But, since it was considered eye care (and our insurance doesn't cover eye care), we were going to be charged for it. Amazingly enough, I complained, and they took the charges off. How about that!

During one particularly crazed bill paying/paperwork sequence, I was trying to return a call for an appointment that I had set up for Keva. This involved a three-hour hearing test that the school decided was not a requirement after all. So, I tried to cancel said appointment. Only I got lost in a phone menu system, trying desperately to get to a real voice. Instead, I'd go through a whole series of menu options, only to find a recording saying, "You have reached such-and-such office. Such-in-such is too busy to take your call, please call back again!" (no opportunity to leave a message or anything!) Argh! Double argh! (Can you just see the puffs of smoke from the firing hormones?) I had to go through the phone menu sequence THREE times before I got to a real person. Keri Lynn came to my desk right about that time with a test for me to grade and she heard me muttering to myself. So she did what she knew would make me laugh -- this really silly imitation of a comic strip character that never fails to put me in stitches. I burst into peals of laughter just as a REAL PERSON came on the line at the doctor's office. I somehow got out a few words asking for the office assistant that I needed, sputtering apologies as I went, when I got a message, "Such-and-such is not available at this time . . . " AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! By the way, I finally did get to cancel the appointment.

Needless to say, I got a little punchy after a while working on the bills/paperwork, so much so that I ended up calling MY OWN NUMBER when trying to pay a utility bill because my number (oddly enough) was on the bill. I ended up calling TWICE. And finally figured out what I was doing when, the second time, I was still getting a busy signal. Ha!

Speaking of phones, I did finally manage to sign us up for Vonage. Supposedly, it will cost us about $15 a month for phone bills. I'll report to let you know if it is indeed $15, or if there are a whole bunch of extra fees tacked on. The service is attached to our cable system through the Internet. If we lose power, we'll also loose phone service, but I figure we'll still have our cell phones available in case of emergency.

It's been raining all day today. Poor Kody has been going stir crazy, but the rest of us have been watching videos or reading books all day. Keri Lynn, ever faithful, has gotten school work done, but the rest of us have been lax, to say the least. The kids have watched (in order): A Mary Kate and Ashley Olson mystery video, a movie about Squanto, Aladdin, Ride a Wild Pony and Shirley Temple's Little Princess (all courtesy of our wonderful library). We finally turned the TV off and found ourselves in our family room, still living and breathing. Now Kathleen has gone off to play at a friend's house and is hoping to get someone, anyone, to come spend the night with her. Keva is home from school. Kristofer has walked the dog, done the dishes and taken out the trash . . . You see, Kristofer wants desperately to go to Walmart and get a dart game with $10 that is burning a hole in his pocket. And because I don't want to do anything for the rest of the day, I think I'll order pizza for dinner. Yum. Then maybe we'll have movie night!